"Trust me, I've been in that play-in before and it's only best out of three and anything can happen," said Alex Nylander one month ago after a game against the Rochester Americans, adding, "We're not looking to get that other spot we're looking to get that third spot."

That didn't work out. The hope was kept alive right through to the final game of the regular season on Sunday that they could leapfrog the Cleveland Monsters and seize third place in the North Division to skip the play-in round; however, further losses in the interim required the team to win both final regular season games last weekend against the Laval Rocket and also for the Cleveland Monsters to lose their final regular season game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Marlies did their part and won both games against the Rocket. The Griffins, the best team in the league with a final record of 51 wins in 72 games, blew up that hope for the Marlies by somehow losing 6-4 to the Monsters, with the dagger being that the game winning goal was scored by ex-Maple Leaf Zach Aston-Reese.

But back to tonight's game #1, the Americans are a known quantity. The Marlies have played them six times this season, winning three games and losing three. It makes it look like a coin toss, and in a best-of-three series it often is, but the Marlies are at least notionally better than the Americans, especially with Amerks star player Isak Rosén gone, traded by the Buffalo Sabres at the deadline to the Winnipeg Jets for Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn. Yes, Luke Schenn is still in the NHL 18 years now after he was drafted by the Leafs (he never actually played for the Marlies), and he now has the possibility of becoming a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, though the Sabres certainly did not look like contenders last night against the Bruins.

The Marlies have reinforcements too with Easton Cowan transferred to the team and already making an impact playing on a line with Alex Nylander and Luke Haymes.

Easton Cowan said he loved the vibes in the arena, and I pointed out how there were a lot of London Knights Cowan jerseys in the crowd for both games and he had a beaming smile and said, "Obviously, it's great, a lot of support and a great fanbase in London, and here, super cool."

When asked what has changed about Cowan in the time since he was last with the Marlies John Gruden said it was all about confidence, something Cowan echoed himself, saying, "confidence in my overall game," adding, "these guys have welcomed me back with open arms."

Several players mentioned in their post-game interviews how the team felt like a family and had become a very tight-knit group.

These are themes that immediately reminded me of the end of the last season where Shaw said the same thing after the knock out of the playoffs, losing two straight to the Monsters, that the team had bonded over the season and going out of the playoffs so quickly was hard on all of them.

Shaw has come a long way from a few years ago when he became captain and once said to me, "I'm only standing on the foundation that Rich Clune built," something which then Marlies coach Greg Moore scoffed at saying he undervalued his contributions. Shaw has now made this truly his team, and tonight Shaw and the rest of the Marlies have their next shot at showing us what this new generation have learned from him and what they can really do.

The schedule for the best-of-three is out and it follows the 1-1-1 format, so after tonight, the next game is in Rochester.

Toronto Marlies